Producer profile: Little Forest Farm

Above: Hailey and Rohan of Little Forest Farm.

Little Forest Farm

Story by Zannie Flanagan.

In 2018, Rohan Cleeves and Hailey Lane finally found their dream property. The land is situated just six kilometres from the seaside town of Middleton and on a clear day you can look down the crease of the hills to the Lower Lakes far below. After this season’s early rains, the grass is high and lush and there’s water in their small dam. It’s not hard to see why they fell in love with this little piece of paradise, their Little Forest Farm.

The forty-acre block was formerly part of a much larger dairy farm and had been heavily grazed. It was the perfect place for the couple to put Rohan’s extensive experience in conservation and regenerative agriculture into practice.

‘Our ethos behind the management of the farm is one of land stewardship, where humans, as part of the ecosystem, work with nature to shape and manage it. And so we have designed the farm based on a model of integrated agro-forestry, in which a range of timber, nectar-producing and edible plants grow in a mutually beneficial manner, while regenerating soil and providing habitat for native fauna,’ explains Rohan.

Since purchasing Little Forest Farm, the couple, who both still work offsite, have spent their weekends making their dream a reality. In the short time they’ve owned the property, they’ve planted out the gently sloping hillsides with hardy native species that include wattles, saltbush and quandong and installed beehives which will eventually yield up to 800 kilograms of honey annually. Their plan is to harvest the fruit, leaves and seeds of the plants and develop a range of native teas, herbs and wattle seed products. Over time, they hope to value-add to their harvest through experimentation and innovation. While visiting Little Forest Farm a few weeks ago, I tasted the leaves of a few species new to me. Native foods are often very intense and need to be used in moderation, especially when you’re just discovering their unique flavour profiles. The liquorice intensity of the aniseed myrtle was my favourite; the distinctive native lemongrass was a close second. The dried or fresh leaves of either plant would, I’m sure, make delicious teas.

At the highest point of the property the couple have built a large shed. Eventually they will build a house nestled just under the rim of the hill. Hailey, who originally trained as a visual artist and photographer, will soon complete her apprenticeship as an electrician and under this new guise oversaw the installation of the shed’s solar system and connection to the grid.

During the planning and early development of the property, Rohan and Hailey heard about the Willunga Farmers Market (WFM) Farmers’ Scholarship. First offered in 2014, the scholarship supports young people interested in sustainable farming and the production of fresh local produce. The scholarship was designed to encourage and facilitate a future band of entrepreneurial young farmers, assisting them to overcome some of the barriers to entry into the industry while also adding to the diversity of the market and keeping it thriving into the future. Both Heirloom Harvest, who farm organically at Tooperang, and Cockatoo Creek Farm of Yankalilla, were able to take their hobby of farming to commercial success in a much shorter time with the help of the scholarship, are previous recipients.

Rohan and Hailey have been worthy recipients of the WFM Farmers’ Scholarship for 2020. And while it might be six months before they pitch their tent at the market, I can’t wait to see the range of Little Forest Farm products appear for sale. Be sure to try their honey, and if you’re a licorice fan like me, follow your nose to the aniseed myrtle.

Applications for the 2021 WFM Farmers’ Scholarship are open from the 21 November 2020 to 29 January 2021 and can be submitted at willungafarmersmarket.com.au/scholarship.

We are very pleased to present the first FLM portraiture series

by Fleurieu-based high-school students. The series features original photographs capturing an emotion or a story, or create a document of place and time. The portraits could be studio-based, environmental, candid or self-portraits.

Above left: Resilience. Above right: Pride. Photographs by Loki Hall.

Our editorial team was very impressed with the submissions we received. It wasn’t just that they showed exceptional technical merit, but the accompanying ‘why’ statements showed how thoughtfully the students had engaged with the brief.

Though all had outstanding merit, there were four submissions that were a stand out – Loki Hall, Akaysha Morgan, Evan White and Jay Van Dam. These students presented work with the strongest artistic and philosophical merit. We chose two images from each, plus an additional image from three other students. Loki Hall, Year 12, Tatachilla Lutheran College Capturing my close friend, Steed, was incredibly emotional as I aimed to encapsulate his deeply painful, yet resilient journey. To me, using a challenging lighting setup like chiaroscuro reflects the complex racial scrutiny Indigenous Australians have had to endure. It was crucial that he looked directly into the viewer’s eyes (the lens), which makes the image more captivating and emotional.

The second image to me was so important as I wanted to celebrate the conservative Japanese culture as it has been such a large part of my life. Using a rim light behind the model helped me achieve this, illuminating the falling petals.

Above left: Minakami elder. Above right: Pandemic people. Photographs by Akaysha Morgan.

Akaysha Morgan, Year 11, Encounter Lutheran College Captured in 2019, this image features an elderly woman from Minikami, Japan posing at the counter of her family-owned store. The store was filled with a variety of knick-knacks such as: small ceramic animals, traditional wooden fans, and Japanese dolls. Though neither the lady nor I spoke each other’s languages, we used gestures and Google translate to communicate. I had asked her sister if I could take a photograph of her but she replied ‘utsukushi-sa no ketsujo’ which loosely translates to ‘no beauty.’ This lady had over 100 years of life experience and yet she still didn’t see beauty in herself, so after politely rejecting the request she gestured towards her sister. Her sister seemed hesitant also but then posed and smiled for a quick photo before finishing calculating our bill using her abacus. This image captures a moment of beauty, wisdom, pride, and culture.

Captured in May 2020, a lady walks through Rundle Mall wearing a mask. Nearing the end of South Australia’s outbreak, my mum and I went to Adelaide to try and capture some of the new customs and cultural changes following the pandemic. This candid photograph tells a story of global cooperation, panic, or politics, depending on your perspective. >

Above left: Anita. Above right: Lily Brokamp. Photographs by Evan White.

Evan White, Year 12, Willunga Waldorf School My friend Scarlet and her new friend from Germany, Anita, wanted to learn how to shoot film. Scarlet had recently made friends with this lovely German girl while working and had told me all about her, so I was excited to meet her. We were practising at an old ruined building in Port Willunga, which was when I took this candid photo of Anita smiling at Scarlet. Anita is a very genuine person and she smiled at Scarlet in a very genuine and humble way. I didn’t use any technique in particular – just went for the best exposure I could. Lilly Brokamp – Lilly is a good friend and happens to live quite close to me. We were just casually hanging out and I had some nice film at the time (Portra 800) and the light that was coming into my bedroom was real soft so we just started shooting. We had stacks of homework at the time so the stress levels were high, especially with everything that was and still is going on in the world. I feel that this photo captures what many students were feeling at the time. I used natural light coming through the window onto my bed, which was where I shot this photo.

Above left: Being silenced. Above right: The exploration of body identity. Photographs by Jay Van Dam.

Jay Van Dam, Year 12, Tatachilla Lutheran College Through my photography course in year 12, I was able to explore the concepts of identity by listening to subjects’ stories and capturing their portrait. These images would hold the essence of the pains and successes they have faced. Each image is raw and unique, just as the subjects are. I photographed the subjects in different conditions with direct lighting in order to best communicate their story. I feel so privileged to work with such strong and kind people. I just hope that I can grow a sense of strength and compassion in the viewer, and in a way spark a sense of hope in such a rough time. >

Above left: Kiki. Photograph by Oliver Brunton. Above right: Brianna. Photograph by Ethan Huish.

Oliver Brunton, Year 12, Tatachilla Lutheran College I chose to study photography in year 12 as I enjoyed the year 11 course and now finishing the year 12 course photography has become a real passion of mine. I like to create more cinematic and natural portraits, using nature and depicting the weather and trying to create a cinematic feel, through fog, smoke, sunrise, sunset, water etc. I think that it would be awesome to get a photo of mine published and in a magazine. Ethan Huish, Year 11, Cardijn College In class, we focused on the theme ‘Being Human’. This topic was quite broad, although I decided to do film photography. It allowed me to explore the world around me and the people closest to me, depicting their personalities within the photos.

Context: I chose to capture photos of the people closest to me, as it allowed me to truly connect to the spaces we love to be in together. I focused on using sunlight and limited colours.

Above left: Jacob. Photograph by Johanna Stocker. Above right: Water pixie. Photograph by Lilja Stevenson.

Johanna Stocker, Year 11, Cardijn College As a class we worked on a theme ‘Being Human’. I was excited about this topic as it was broad and allowed me to explore my passion for photography.

I chose the context of the people closest to me as I wanted to represent my subject depicting their personalities with use of light, colour and composition. I think these elements were the strongest for really portraying my subject matter. I chose my brother as my main subject. I wanted to use light in varying ways to explore his personality. I believe orange is warmth which relates to family, and I used the traditional composition showing only his face, making him the focal point.

Lilja Stevenson, Year 12, Investigator College This image was designed to depict nature and its often mysterious folklore creatures. I wanted to create a water pixie and I found the idea of creating a clear definition between the foreground and background in shot quite endearing.